How ART Works — How Does A Doctor Perform ART?

ART works by using friction and tension to tear adhesions away from the body, and it does so without having to cut
or break the skin (it is non-surgical). The pain goes away and the proper mechanics of the shoulder will return.

What Dr. Leahy (the founder of ART) discovered was that an enormous amount of TENSION is needed
to pull apart the 'welding' that the adhesion has formed on the
rotator cuff and
surrounding shoulder muscles.
And here's the beautiful thing: once the muscles have been freed, they stay that way! They don't
spontaneously glue back together; rather, the body metabolizes the broken-up scar tissue.

This is where the "art" comes into play. Active Release 'un-glues' the adhesions, but
the ART-Certified doctor must be able to do two basic things:

Find the Adhesion. The ART-Certified doctor must be
able to locate the adhesion using a well-trained, well-developed sense of touch.They must be able to very accurately place their fingers directly on the adhesion.

Tear The Adhesion. Then, the ART-Certified doctor must
know the exact direction in which to stretchthat particular body part in order to build enough tension to cause the
adhesion to tear away. Only by knowing the exact detail of the anatomy can the doctor know how
to create enough tension to actually make the adhesion break away.

Once the structural damages (adhesions) have been located within the shoulder and surrounding tissues,
the Active Release treatments can begin to 'release' the adhesions and start the true healing process
within your shoulder. The pain will begin to decrease and your ability to do more activities will increase.

Dr. Janzen locates the adhesion in Frank Shamrock's shoulder.

Dr. Janzen instructs Frank to move his arm downward, in a specific direction that is OPPOSITE the
tension being placed on the adhesion in Frank's shoulder. This causes the adhesion to break away.
The broken scar tissue is then metabolized by the body.